Simplicity
Recipe by Heleen Meyer
Tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, fresh herbs and feta – you can’t go wrong with this combination.
These roasted tomatoes served on creamy whipped feta, is a real burst of flavour and is sure to impress your guests. The variety of small tomatoes add vibrant colour and lots offlavour to this simplistic idea. When roasted, the natural sweetness of the tomatoes is even more prominent, with the balsamic vinegar adding an extra level of flavour.
If you prefer, use only one kind of baby or rosa tomatoes or add chunks of very ripe large tomatoes to make up the tomato mixture.
You may have seen versions of this recently on social media or in food magazines – it is indeed on-trend.
Serve it as a pre-dinner cocktail snack or starter with slices of fresh or toasted ciabatta or baguette to scoop up all the yumminess. Make it part of a summery alfresco meal or pack the elements as part of a picnic. Your guests will love you for it. It’s great as part of a special brunch or toss the tomatoes and feta into pasta with some cooked chicken or bacon for a mouth-watering supper.
Feta easily whips into a creamy texture and the touch of lemon makes it extra tasty. If you like goats’ cheese, that can be whipped up as an alternative. Or if you want to keep it dairy-free, spread large dollops of hummus on a plate and top with these aromatic tomatoes.
Remember that the feta is quite salty, so don’t be tempted to add more salt, just a good grind of pepper and fresh basil leaves.
Roasted tomatoes on whipped feta (tomatoes, basil, rosemary)
Recipe by Heleen Meyer
Image by Adel Ferreira
Serves 8 as a starter or snack
200 g red or yellow baby or rosa tomatoes, halved lengthwise
100 g cherry or exotic tomatoes, halved
large pinch of salt
90 ml (6 tbsp) olive oil
15 ml (1 tbsp) balsamic vinegar
3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves stripped from the stalks (15-20 ml fresh rosemary leaves)
2 slices feta (about 70-80 g each), crumbled
10 ml (2 tsp) finely grated lemon rind
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
pepper
fresh basil leaves
1. Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line a baking tray with baking paper or use a shallow oven dish.
2. Place all the tomatoes in a single layer on the baking tray and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and almost dried out, but still keeping their shapes.
3. Mix 60 ml of the oil with the vinegar and rosemary in a bowl. Add the tomatoes to the oil mixture and toss to coat tomatoes. Marinate for 10-15 minutes.
4. Place feta with the remaining oil and the lemon rind and juice in a mixing bowl or jug.
Using a stick blender, blend until a smooth mixture forms. Season with pepper.
5. Spread whipped feta on a serving plate or platter and spoon the tomatoes with any leftover marinade on top, just before serving. Garnish with basil leaves and a good grind of black pepper.
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